Portable house



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O. H. SMITH.

PORTABLE HUUSE. N0. 297',863. 13a/sentedA Apr; Z9, 1884.

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PORTABLE HOUSE..

No. 297,863. Patented. Apr. 29, 1884.

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PORTABLE HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent` No. 297,863, dated April 29, 1884.

Application filed March 14, 1884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, OTIs HALL SMITH, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Houses; and I do hereby declare the same to be described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings,of which- Figure l is a front and Fig. 2 a rear elevation, Fig. 3 a horizontal section, Figs.` 4.2 and 5 end elevations, and Fig. 6 a transverse section, of a house embodying my invention, the nature of which is defined in the claims here inafter presented. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of one of the sills. showing its connection with the siding, a stud, and the flooring, to be de` scribed. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of vparts of the roof and the plate or beam for supporting the rafters.' Fig. 9 is a transverse section of one of the cornerposts. Fig. 10 is a trans-V verse section of one of the door-studs E. Fig. 11 is a perspective view, showing the connection of one of the corner-posts with one side sill and one end sill. Fig. l12 is a perspective view of the side sill and a floor-joist as applied thereto." Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the Wallplate. Fig. 14E is a perspective view of parts of the ridge-piece,showing their hinge-connection. Fig. 15 is a transverse section of one of the studs E. Fig. 16 is a transversesection of oneof the rafters. Fig. 17 is a plan of the sill and ilcor timbers.

rIhe building is constructed in a manner to admit of its parts being readily separated from one another and packed in a small compass for transporation, or, when in such a state, of being expeditiously and easily put together and converted into a house for use by sportsmen, lumber-men, or others, as occasion may require. It is intended for it to be about nine feet in width by fifteen and a half feet in length, though it may be made of other dimensions. The said building is mainly composed ofsills, studs, sidings, roof-plates, corner-posts, ridge-pieces, roof-boards, rafters, a floor, end posts, side and end windows, and a door, arranged and adapted substantially as hereinafter explained.

In the drawings, A denotes the sills, arranged in the form of a rectangle, each side sill being in two pieces, a a, connected by a hinge, b. (See Fig. 12.) Each end sill is in one piece. The side and end sills kat their junction are lapped or Yscarfed together, and are held to, each other by a corner-post, B, tenoned at its foot into or through the laps. Each side sill, as well as each end sill, has in its upper part two rabbets, c and d, the bottom of the front or outer one, c, being inclined, to shed water. Extending from one side to the other is a series of floor timbers or j oists, C, each of which is tenoned at its ends, and has its tenons inserted in mortises in the sills, such mortises opening out of the tops of the sills, to enable the joists to be readily lifted out of or inserted within the sills. The iiooring D, made of'boards, is laid on the joists transversely thereof.

Between each two of the corner-posts there are erected upon the sill A, extending from one to the other of such posts, a series of posts or studs, E, two of which (marked E in the front elevation) have a door, F, -arranged between and properly adapted to them. Directly over the door the two studs are joined by a transom, e, between which and the wallplateG is awindow-sash, f. Each corner-post, as well as each of the intermediate studs, E and Ff, is grooved in its sides, as shown at g, to receive the sidings H, which are vertical boards, inserted in such grooves and reaching from the sill to the wall-plates, which are grooved, asvshown at h, to receive the upper ends of the sidings. Sometimes I have between each two next adjacent of the studs E, and also between each stud E and the stud E next thereto, and also between each cornerpost B and the stud E next it, two of the sidings H, one being directly in rear of the other,with a narrow space between them, such serving to render the building better for use in cold weather or winter.

ATo keep tight the joint of tlie sidings and studs and corner-posts, there may be suitably arranged on each `joint a strip of vulcanized india-rubber. Window-sashes t' and cross-bars k at their ends are inserted between certain of the studs, all being as shown in the drawings.

The ridge-timber or ridge-piece of the roof is shown at I. It is made in two pieces, Z Z, equal in length and connected by a hinge, m. (See Fig. 14.) From opposite sides of this ridge-piece, rafters K extend down to and are IOO notched to receive and rest upon the wallplates G, each rafter being tenoned at its npper end into the ridgepiece. The rafters are held in connection with the ridge-piece by means of hooks L and eyes or staples M, arranged as shownin Fig. 8. Furthermore,each rafter has projecting down from and hinged to it a hasp, N, to receive a staple, O, in the wallplate G. A hook, I, held to the stud immediately below the rafter by a staple, Q, hooks into the staple O. I would remark that each corner-post at its foot has ahasp hinged to it, to connect it by means of a hook and staple with the sill, from which it may extend, such being shown in Fig. 8. The said corner-post at top is or should be similarlyY connected with the wall-plate resting on it. The rafters, like the studs, are grooved on their sides to receive the roof-boards It, which extend between such rafters, and are also at their upper ends inserted in grooves ,n u in the ridge pole or piece I. In each of the rafters there may be two grooves, instead of one,to receive roof-boards, in which case there would be a pair of the roofboards between each two next adjacent of the rafters.

A series of tie-beams, S, extend from one sidewall plate to the other, each of such beams being notched to receive the plate G. These beams are to steady the structure. To these beams curtains may be attached, to divideinto apartments the space within the building. Freni the middle of each end-wall platea post, T, is extended up tothe ridge-piece, such post being tenoned into the plate and also into the ridge-piece. Triangular window-sashes U U are arranged in the spaces flanking each post, and may be hinged to the post, so as to be readily disconnected from it. Besides these sashes, there may be arranged in the said spaces triangular wire-nettings to prevent the entrance of insects into the building. The'se spaces so furnished are for ventilation of the building. The postI also connect to the ridgepiece and wall plate by hasps, staples, and hooks, as hereinbefore described.

In order to hold each of the roof-boards in the grooves of the rafters, I usually apply to the rafter eccentric turn-buttons, which, on being revolved, force the roof-boards upward against the upper edges of the grooves in the rafters, and serve to produce tight joints between the boards and rafters.

The principal objectof having each wallplate in three pieces hinged together, and the ridge-piece and cach side sill in two separate pieces hinged to each other is to have the joints of the wall-plate out of the same vertical plane of the joints of the ridge-piece and those ofthe sills, in order that the building may be stronger and not liable to separate or sag at its middle, as would be the case were each wall-piece composed of two equal pieces hinged together at the middle of the structure.

I do not herein claim a building having sills, corner and intermediate posts, wall plates, rafters, ridge piece or pole, and boards applied thereto, sueh being common to many structures. I have besides such the end posts, T, and the iiankers, open spaces, and the sashes thereof, and I have the several parts applied and connected by devices, as stated, by which they can be readily secured together, when set up, and subsequently taken apart and packed in a small compass for convenience of being stowed away or transported from place to place, as occasion may require. In fact, the parts of the building, when set up, may be connected without the use of any tools or any nails, screws, bolts, or other fastenings, eX- cept such as hereinbefore described.

I claim- 1. The end and side sills scarfed or lapped together at their ends, in combination with the posts tenoned into the laps, and secured in place by separable connections or hasps, staples, and hooks, all being substantially as represented.

2. The ridge-piece and each side sill, composed of two pieces equal or about equal in their length, and hinged together, in combination with each Wall-plate, consisting of three pieces equal or about equal iu their lengths, and connected by hinges.

3. The combination of the end and side sills searfed or lapped together at their ends, with the posts tenoned into the laps and secured to the side sills by separable connections, and with the wall-plates, the rafters, and the ridgepiece, arranged and adapted and connected together and to the posts by separable connections, substantially as set forth.

OTIS HALL SMITH.

Vitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, E. B. PRATT.

IOO 

